Periods set by law
How long do lenders keep records? The rules we read
Updated
A retention rule says which credit records a lender is sure to have on file when a buyer asks. Six periods from US and GB rules are on our table, each linked to the text it came from.
US lending and collections rules
Regulation B, 12 CFR 1002.12, keeps information about an offer of credit for 25 months after the offer is made. Regulation Z, 12 CFR 1026.25, keeps evidence of compliance for two years. Regulation F, 12 CFR 1006.100, has a debt collector retain evidence of compliance with the FDCPA for three years, and 31 CFR 1010.430 keeps Bank Secrecy Act records for five years.
Source: Credit records retention
GB rules a credit firm meets
Regulation 40 of the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 sets a period of five years for the records it names. Section 5 of the Limitation Act 1980 is not a retention rule: it bars an action on a simple contract six years after the cause of action accrued, a period a lender weighing what to keep will know.
The median on the table
Across the five periods counted in years the median is 5 years, from 2 to 6; the Regulation B period is counted in months and sits beside them.
A retained credit record is not yet a licensable one
A record a rule makes you keep can also carry personal data and reporting duties, so its period tells you the history exists, not that it can be licensed as it stands. The terms that decide that are at credit data ownership.